We enter the second half of the decade with great enthusiasm and optimism. 2014 was the biggest year yet for 33 Dimensions as we continued to refine our services to meet the growing needs of small businesses, organizations, artists and entrepreneurs. With an improving economy and the proliferation of technology, we look forward to further success for our business and our clients.
Ric Albano
Owner and Chief Web Designer 33 Dimensions LLC
WordPress Presentation
We have put together a presentation on WordPress Basic Tips & Functions, which gives a good overview of various WordPress elements and can be an effective starting point for non-technical people interested in this very popular content management system. If your group is interested in scheduling this presentation or other custom-built tutorials, please contact Ric Albano at 717.829.4221.
Our Latest Client Website
On January 1st, Comics Movies and Games was officially launched. This new site is a spin-off that evolved from some of the geekier elements on Big Blue Bullfrog, with the name of this new website pretty much telegraphing its content. The new site will also be debuting an original web comic this month.
33 Dimensions provides low-cost, professional and effective website design that is highly functional, informative, and accessible. We also offer many related services to market your website and your business and will customize an affordable solution for you.
Check out our Online Portfolio and you will see that there is no job too complex or too small for us to handle for you. Feel free to give me a call at (717) 829-4221 or email me ric@33dimensions.com and I will personally negotiate a great deal to fulfill your online needs.
If there are two lessons that everyone should come away from 2013 learning about websites, I would say it would have to be these:
1. There is absolutely no such thing as a “free” website!
2. A website should not cost over $600 million!
I will tackle the second point first because that is much easier to grasp. Of course, what I’m referring to is the “Obamacare” website Healthcare.gov, which amazingly did not work when it was launched on October 1st (it is now about 75 days later and the jury is still out on whether it actually works).
To be exact, it was reported by Digital Trends that the contractor CGI Federal received $634,320,919 to construct Healthcare.gov. Now to appreciate this amount, it is more money than Facebook spent in its first six years of existence (you know, the years went it went completely viral) and it is also more than the amount spent building two more recent services – Linkedin and Spotify – combined. All that money spent and it didn’t work for at the least its first two months of existence.
As a small business web developer, I’m sure I could have figured out a way to get competent developers to complete the site on time and working for, I don’t know, about 1/1000th of that cost! But they never asked me.
Now for the first point, the opposite end of the money spectrum. There is absolutely no such thing as a “free” website! Whenever you hear such a claim to “build a website for free”, what you are actually getting is a new example of an old trick that big companies do to try and squash small competitors (in this case, small business web developers like myself) by cleverly masking a false offer. You’ve surely seen or heard of these free website offers, many from three-letter companies that start with the letter ‘w’ and only disclose the fact that you have to pay a monthly fee in order to keep your “free” website in the cluttered disclaimer at the end.
For companies who are serious about starting and staying in business, such offers do not stand up in the long run for two primary reasons. First, you lose the ability to expand unless you pay the fixed price arbitrarily set by the company. This ties in well with the second reason, you ultimately do not own anything – neither content nor domain name. It is almost akin to those fake houses on a Hollywood set, nice enough to look at but totally impractical to live in.
So, if you’d like a website which is neither free nor $600 million, check out a quality website developer like 33 Dimensions and you will actually get what you pay for (if not more!)
My wife’s sister Diane turned 36 years old yesterday. When Diane was 30 she had a massive stroke which left her fighting for her life. In fact, doctors said it was unlikely she would survive a week. But Diane fought back and, although she continues to struggle with health issues daily, Diane continues to be in good spirits.
Three years ago, on Diane’s 33rd birthday, we held a fundraiser concert in her honor. We also collaborated with some of Pennsylvania’s finest musicians for a unique compilation album of original music. Since the beginning, we’ve sold this album for $5.00 with all proceeds benefiting brain injury research and a scholarship fund for Diane’s young daughter.
Ric Albano Owner and Creative Director
33 Dimensions LLC
New Website, New Design
We are working on a whole new website with a new design (note the new logo on top) in time for our 4th anniversary in March. The new 33 Dimensions website will include regular articles with valuable information for our customers as well as many more features on small businesses and news concerning the web design industry.
Kids Theatre News Central PA will be officially launching in the Spring, we currently have a sneak preview at KidsTheatreNews.com. Started by a theatre mom, the site will be a resource for busy theatre families, providing information about upcoming performances, auditions, local theatre companies, instructors, classes and camps, as well as resources and news pertinent to the industry.
There is lots going on at The Cornerstone Coffeehouse in February. There will be several salon gatherings, fund raisers, and great culinary cooking classes. In fact, we will soon be designing a website specifically for the Cornerstone Culinary Kitchen.
The Cornerstone regularly features an incredible selection of coffee and tea, and a grat lunch menu includes salads, hearty sandwiches, and savory soups.
We strive for the growth and success of all our customers!
We wish you all love, peace, and happiness along with good health and fulfilling prosperity in the year to come. Thank you all for making 2012 the best year of our young business so far. We have some exciting new initiatives coming in 2013, which I’ll share with you in the New Year newsletter next week.
Until then, have the happiest and safest of holidays!
Ric Albano Owner and Creative Director
33 Dimensions LLC
Christmas Entertainment
Our entertainment sites each got into the Christmas spirit with interesting countdowns and reviews.
Hey, how about those G-men! (that’s the New York Giants for you non-football fans). At the time of our last newsletter on Christmas Eve, they were 7-7 and on the verge of being eliminated. Then with big wins over the Jets and Cowboys, they “snuck” into the playoffs at 9-7. Then the real fun began – a huge win against Atlanta in the Wildcard round, a flawless performance in Green Bay in the Divisional Playoff, and an overtime head-knocker against San Francisco in the NFC Championship. Now the Giants face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl this Sunday, Feburary 5th, in a rematch of the thrilling game four years ago which the Giants won 17-14. Now my intent here is not to isolate Patriot fans, but the “big blue” in our fast-growing site BigBlueBullfrog.com did originate from the Giants. Enjoy the game everyone!
Ric Albano President and CEO
33 Dimensions LLC
New Web Packages for 2012
We have put together a couple of economical web packages for new sites. Each package includes initial design and a year of domain registration and hosting. We will design your site using a content management system (CMS) which will allow you to make easy updates to your site anytime, anywhere, and without any deep technical knowledge.
Basic Packages starting at $599.00 USD Economy Packages starting at $399.00 USD
We also have great rates for redesigning, upgrading, or maintaining current websites as well as all the other services we offer. For further information call (717) 829-4224 or submit a request here.
Writers Wanted!
As our sites continue to grow, we have expanded to cover many subjects and areas for which we need talented writers and editors to sustain the content. These subjects include new and classic rock music, current events, movie reviews, game reviews, lifestyle, sports, philosophy, politics, editorials, and business copy. The actual literature required ranges from simple blogs (or even “tweets”) to multi-thousand word, in-depth profiles. Anyone interested please email us at info@33dimensions.com for further information.
Client News
Classic Rock Review has migrated to a new, permanent home at www.ClassicRockReview.com (it had been at Classic.ModernRockReview.com for the first year of its existence). The site is currently exploring albums from the great year of 1977.
Cygnus Wave Records has added song pages for all of its artists, which each include lyrics, song information, and the ability to listen to each song in total. Since 2005, Cygnus Wave had seven album releases.
BigBlueBullfrog.com is benefitting greatly from the Super Bowl run of the New York Giants. The site also continues to expand and currently features an exploration of the musical sub-genre Nerd Rock and is offering strong coverage of the 2012 Election, with a correspondent on the ground in Florida tonight covering that state’s primary.
The Latest Modern Rock Review feature is an article on Americana legend Steve Earle. The site, which got a recent facelift for 2012, will soon be doing features on rock bands The Black Keys and Foo Fighters, as well as a review of the latest album by Van Halen.
Diane Kovaleski turned 35 yesterday (January 30th). In 2007 at the age of 30, Diane suffered a major stroke which the doctors initially said she would not survive for more than a week. But Diane is a fighter and she carries on despite her maladies. Back in that first year, a benefit called Dollars for Diane was established by her friends and family to raise funds for Brain Injury Research and a scholarship for Diane’s young daughter. In 2010, Pennsylvania musicians donated their songs create the Dollars for Diane Compilation CD, which is still available for only $5, which gets donated to this great cause.
The Badlees are planning a big year in 2012, which may include two new albums – a “Best of” collection and a whole new album of original material – plus a DVD documentary of the band as well as a major motion picture featuring their music. The band has also begun booking live dates for 2012.
We strive for the growth and success of all our customers!
We have put together a presentation on WordPress Basic Tips & Functions, which gives a good overview of various WordPress elements and can be an effective starting point for non-technical people interested in this very popular content management system. If your group is interested in scheduling this presentation or other custom-built tutorials, please contact Ric Albano at 717.829.4221.
